Veteran Indian actor and Lok Sabha lawmaker Paresh Rawal caused an uproar on social media after proposing on Twitter that award-winning novelist Arundhati Roy should be tied to an army jeep.
Referring to an incident earlier last month where a Kashmiri youth was tied to the front of an Indian army jeep as a human shield and paraded in the streets, Rawal said: “Instead of tying stone-pelters on the army jeep, tie Arundhati Roy.”
Instead of tying stone pelter on the army jeep tie Arundhati Roy !
— Paresh Rawal (@SirPareshRawal) May 21, 2017
Rawal’s tweet provoked many users to express their anger on the social media platform, with one user saying, “Am deeply moved by your empathy that brings every character to life in movies. But I’m shocked by your ability to be so violent with words!”
@SirPareshRawal Am deeply moved by your empathy that brings every character to life in movies. But I’m shocked by your ability to be so violent with words!
— Priyanka Borpujari (@Pri_Borpujari) May 21, 2017
One user reminded Rawal of the legal ramifications of his tweet, saying: “You do know that this tweet could get you behind bars for incitement to violence?”
@Pri_Borpujari @SirPareshRawal This is mild … every indian should be violent physically with traitor like arundhati rai who always raise her voice against India.
— ??P.K.Pawan (@PrashantKrPawan) May 21, 2017
One user mocked the veteran actor’s tweet by insisting that he was venting his frustration for not being able to understand Arundhati Roy’s Booker prize-winning The God of Small Things.
@SirPareshRawal OMG tumko bhi God of small things samajh na aane ka gussa hai? hota hai. Padha likha hota to human hota na, sanghi thode hota
— vishakha (@vishakhabilla) May 21, 2017However, there were some who echoed Rawal’s sentiments and came out in support of the actor’s tweet.
One user even insisted that Roy should be subjected to physical violence for her supposedly anti-India views. “Every Indian should be violent, physically, with a traitor like Arundhati Roy who always raises her voice against India.
@Pri_Borpujari @SirPareshRawal This is mild … every indian should be violent physically with traitor like arundhati rai who always raise her voice against India.
— ??P.K.Pawan (@PrashantKrPawan) May 21, 2017